


Waiting Rooms

by villalunae



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Third Person POV, a lot of paperwork and files and badly written hospital settings, because i liked feferi and shES NICE OKAY, hospital au, mainly fef tbh katnep is sorta just there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-14 06:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5733214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villalunae/pseuds/villalunae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh, simply and concisely, she was a nurse. She helped people.</p><p>And she liked to think that she did her job well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting Rooms

  Feferi Peixes was a nurse. She worked at Northridge Medical Hospital, somewhat because she wanted to help people, mainly because she needed the money. You would usually find her manning the front desk or maybe inserting needles into your arm when you're due for it. Normally, however, she was at home, trying to contact her sister and trying to avoid contact with her mother.

  Now, being a nurse was always something Feferi had aspired to do. She always enjoyed her work and nearly never complained about it. She was a favorite at the hospital, among doctors and patients alike. She got what needed to be done done, and she did it as soon as possible. She'd often stay late helping Dr. Zahhak write and file and copy papers, always recieving some sort of compliment for it afterwards. With patients, however, her bubbly and joyous behavior always helped younger children become comfortable around her, while her soothing voice and knowing conduct made the older patients feel calm during their visits.

  While this was all well and good, it didn't exactly help the fact that some patients weren't all that . . . in tact. Often patients would come, and often they would not leave. Sometimes they came in and Feferi would have to be assisted by other nurses as they half-dragged someone into a doctor's office. Once Feferi had even jumped backwards when somebody had lunged at her across the counter, almost knocking over a wooden filing cabinet behind her. Thankfully the person had been hurried to the ER, but she had taken the rest of the day off after that, under Dr. Zahhak's request.

  But one case in particular stuck in Feferi's mind like a hitchiker seed.

  A woman, around her age, maybe younger, had walked into the hospital on a bright summer day. She was wearing a white sundress with a yellow jacket, and she wore a giant sunhat, one with a wide brim, atop her head, similarily white. She walked up to the counter and Feferi smiled at her, wondering vaguely whether or not she should take her lunch break an hour late or just forget it altogether.

  "Hi, I'm here to see Karkat Vantas?"

  Feferi pursed her lips at the blonde; She had not heard of a Karkat Vantas before, but perhaps this was because he had came in a while ago, or else he came in late at night.

  "I'll check to see where he is, Miss . . . ?"

  "Oh, Nepeta Dianna Leijon."

  Feferi smiled at her and rolled her spinny office chair to the wooden filing cabinet, pulling open the drawer with a giant J-L on the front. She rooted around a moment, looking in the K's, specifically the K-A's. However, it seemed the file was not there, or else missing. Feferi rolled back over to Ms. Leijon, biting her lip.

  "Was Mr. Vantas registered here a while ago, or was he admitted recently?"

  "I believe it was around a month ago."

  Feferi nodded. In that case, it was likely his file had been moved back a few shelves to make room. Feferi stood up.

  "I'll be right back, stay here."

 

  Ms. Leijon nodded and moved slightly around the counter, in the case that another visitor needed assistance. Feferi moved behind the wooden filing shelves to a small room that was perched behind the front desk. Filing cabinets were piled behind it, filled to brim with files that were more or less in use, filed by date. Feferi searched a moment for June, 2015, and soon enough, found it near the front. She opened the wide drawer and squated to see inside it. The files inside it were done by alphabet, so it was not hard to find the K's. However, there were no K-A's, except for a Kadence Winch, who was registered in the hospital records after she needed knee surgery. Feferi put the file back and closed the drawer, returning to Ms. Leijon, who looked up from a Calcorn County local magazine.

  "I'm afraid I can't find him. Can you give me any information on him, date of birth, race, nationality, stuff like that?"

  Ms. Leijon pursed her lips and looked in thought for a moment.

  "He's born June thirtieth, I believe, he's about 5'11 . . . He's like, twenty-two now . . . His father and mother were from Pakistan, um . . . He likes coffee?"

  Feferi smiled. "What connection do you have to him, if any?"

  "Oh, friend."

  Feferi nodded. "Do you know what he was admitted for?"

  "I . . ." Ms. Leijon paused for a moment. "I think it was for an accidental overdose and a wound to the stomach? Then he was kept for surgery, something to do with the kidney . . ." Feferi nodded and wrote down,"Overdose, stomach wound, kidney plant," on a yellow note and tore it off it's stack, standing up off her chair as she did so.

  "I'll call up records, if he's not there then I assume he's not here anymore."

"Should I wait here?"

"It would be advisable, yes."

Ms. Leijon walked over to a white chair and sat down, grabbing a magazine off a coffee table to look at while she waited. Feferi moved back into the small room, finding the telephone planted on the wall that could call around the hospital. She grabbed the reciever and punched in twenty-three, the number for records. She held the phone to her ear for a few moments before a voice appeared on the other head.

  "Records answering for front desk, is this . . ." Feferi could hear flipping pages," . . . Feferi Peixes?"

  "This is her, I'm calling for files on Karkat Vantas, supposedly here for an accidental overdose, wound to the stomach, and--" She checked her sticky note. "--A kidney plant."

  "I'll look around. Beforehand, though, weren't you supposed to be on lunch break right now?"

  "Oh, I decided to skip out on lunch. Wasn't up for it today and there were a few more patients than expected."

  "I see. Well, give me a minute and I'll take a search around."

  Feferi leaned against the wall, the phone slack in her hand as she waited. She could hear Ms. Leijon flipping through pages in the magazine she had picked up in the other room. She wondered again if maybe she shouldn't have skipped out on lunch; her stomach was grumbling right now. If it came to it Feferi could probably just grab a snack from her lunch bag and eat it at the desk. Miriam did it all the time, after all . . .

  "Ms. Peixes? Still here?"

  "Yes, do you have his records?"

  "Uh, no, I don't."

  Feferi paused for a moment.

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "I mean that he's not in the overdose section, stomach or bullet wounds, or the kidney surgeries. Are you positive he was here for those?"

  "I'm fairly certain, have you checked general yet?"

  "I'm right here next to it, let me check real quick."

  Feferi heard a file cabinet opening and a shuffling of papers. A minute passed and it was closed again.

  "Nothing. We could do a computer search for all records, but it might take a day or two for it to search everything."

  Feferi sighed. "Is there anywhere else for his file to be?"

  "As far as I know of, no."

  "Um, okay . . . " Feferi let out a breath and bit her lip. " . . . Go ahead and let the computer check all records, I'll tell them to come back tomorrow or something."

  "Alright, on it. Hey, by the way, are you free tonight? Some of the nurses are planning to head down to Gordon's, I figured I'd pass on the information."

  Feferi groaned. "I can't, I have to be home at three for the landlord to check the apartment. I don't know how long it'll take."

  "Oh, too bad. Well, if you need anything else, you know who to call."

  "Thanks."

  "No problem-o."

  Feferi hung up, giving a little sigh. She walked back over to the desk and sat back down. Ms. Leijon noticed and stood up, walking back over to her.

  "Anything?"

  "No," Feferi sighed, pursing her lips,"It's not in any of the records we thought it would be in, but that doesn't mean it didn't get misplaced somewhere. We're doing a data check to see if we can find anything, but it might be a while until we find something. Which means we will call you if we find him, or if we don't."

  "Oh," Ms. Leijon nodded to herself,"Should I check at other hospitlal's or anything else?"

  "I wouldn't advise it, but if he's not here it might be worth it to check somewhere else."

  "Would you like my phone number?"

  "Oh! Yes, here--" Feferi tore off a corner of a piece of paper and handed it to her, "--Write down your number, I'll call you if we find anything." Ms. Leijon quickly scribbled down her number and handed it back to Feferii, who stuffed it somewhere on her desk. Ms. Leijon smiled at her.

  "Okay, well, thank you for your help!"

  "No problem, ma'am."

  And Ms. Leijon walked back out the doors.

 

  Dr. Zahhak let her leave early and she hurried home, eager to take a nap before the landlord came. Luckily he came a bit later than she expected, around five pm, so she was able to have an early dinner and an early bedtime, seeing as a headache appeared out of nowhere soon after the landlord left.

  She woke up in the morning, ate breakfeast, took a shower, and hurried out the door to arrive early at work. She was the only one in the office, aside from Dr. Zahhak, and spent a leisurely morning checking in people for scheduled appointments. The woman from records arrived later in the day and Feferi called her, asking if they had found anything. At that point the woman explained there was nothing on Karkat Vantas. No records of him having surgery, no overdosages, no appointments at the hospital, nothing that hinted that he had been there before, nor was there currently.

  Of course, Feferi phoned Ms. Leijon and explained the situation, suggesting that she might check at other hospitals in the area for him. Ms. Leijon thanked her and promptly hung up. Feferi returned to her previous work and checked in patients, as well as checking out a cancer patient who had been there for the last few weeks.

  "Ms. Pexies, can you read this?" Dr. Zahhak had handed her a piece of paper to look at while she sat at the counter, tapping her pen and trying to do a bit of paperwork. She grabbed it and looked carefully.

  "Uh, I think it says,'Grayson, Ward Twelve . . .' Um . . ." Feferi held it closer to her face," Er,'medicine needed, two dosages'? I'm pretty sure that's what it says."

  "Hm, could've sworn it said three . . . Thank you, Ms. Peixes," Dr. Zahhak moved away, still staring intently at the paper, as Feferi noticed the glass doors open and a minute later a young man come up to her.

  "Hello there, how may I assist you?" Feferi asked, wondering why she had said assist instead of help.

  "Hey, here to check on a patient." The man was blunt and sounded rather out of it.

  "Okay, um, name of patient?" Feferi asked, turning to the computer.

  "Uh, Leijon."

  Somewhere that struck a cord, but Feferi could not tell where.

  "Okay, your name please."

  "Karkat Vantas."

  Oh, that definitely struck a cord! She knew the name, just couldn't pin it . . .

  "Alright, um . . ." Feferi sat in silence for a second as she pondered the name. Darn it, where had she heard it before?

  "Ms. Peixes?" Dr. Zahhak's voice brought her back to reality. "Do you need any help?"

  "What?" Feferi sat up straighter and looked around, back at Dr. Zahhak on the other side of the office room. "Oh, oh no, I'm fine, just zoned out!" She called back, then turned back to Mr. Vantas, who looked as if he had zoned out for a moment as well. "Okay, uh . . . Can I have the full name of the patient and some information?"

  "Oh, uh, she's . . . twenty-one? Uh, full name, Nepeta Leijon, she's from this county--"

  Oh, Nepeta Leijon, that's the name of that lady who came in yesterday!

  But, Feferi thought, didn't she come in here to ask about a Karkat Vantas?

  " . . . Like, 5'3 on a good day-- Hey, you listening?"

  "Oh!" Feferi zoned back in; Hopefully this would be the last time she did that. "Sorry, sorry, um, her name was Nepeta Leijon?"

  "Uh, yeah."

  "Really?" Feferi turned away from the computer and faced the man again. "A Nepeta Leijon came in yesterday, giant sun hat on, she asked about you, in fact."

  "She still has that thing, god . . . She asked about me?"

  "Yes, um . . ." Feferi shuffled through some notes on the table, where she had left the sticky note pertaining to him from yesterday. After a moment she found it and read off,"She said you were here for overdosage, stomach wound, and kidney surgery. Ring a bell anywhere?"

  Mr. Vantas bit his lip. "Well . . . Uh, I got that wound in the stomach from serving overseas, some dumbass didn't know the gun wasn't on safety . . . May have gotten more morphine than I needed, but I don't remember a kidney surgery. And it certainly wasn't here, as far as I know."

  "Hmm," Feferi pondered for a moment, then asked,"Where did you serve, if you don't mind?"

  "Navy in the pacific."

  "What sort of relation are you to Ms. Leijon?"

  "Friend."

  "Now, what was she here for?"

  "Oh, god," Mr. Vantas stared at the ground for a moment. "Um, she was a nurse on the ship I was on . . . Still there when I left, might have been here for back surgery or something?"

  "Hm," Feferi commented, then with a little sigh added,"Well, I can call her and see if she can come over to meet you here? Or would you rather--"

  "That'd be great, thank you," Mr. Vantas cut across, nodding. Feferi smiled at him before looking around for her phone number. Mr. Vantas turned and sat down in the waiting area, nervously tugging at his collar. After a few moments of furious searching(Which included her considering calling for Dr. Zahhak to help), she finally found the number, scratched onto a small square of paper hidden beneath a pile of binders. Feferi pulled it out, looking over the number for a moment before dialing it into the phone and waiting.

  One ring . . . She really didn't have all day . . . Two rings . . . What time was it now anyway? . . . Three rings . . . Four pm, it's almost time to clock--

  "Hello?"

  "Hi, this is Feferi Peixes from Northridge Medical Hospital, I'm calling to relay a message."

  "Oh! Is, uh, this about Karkat Vantas?"

  "Yes, it is! I think you'll be delighted to hear that he is currently at the hospital now!"

  "Wait, really? Can you see him?"

  "Yes, he's in the waiting room. He was actually looking for you too, in fact!"

  "Okay, um, tell him to hold tight, I'll be there in like, ten minutes!"

  "I'll give him the message. Goodbye!"

  "Bye!" Ms. Leijon hung up.

  Feferi put the phone back on the reciever and called over to Mr. Vantas. "She'll be here in ten minutes, she said to hold tight!"

  Mr. Vantas nodded, "I'll stick around here in that case."

  "That would be wise."

 

  Not even ten minutes passed before she saw the large, wide-brimmed sunhat of Ms. Leijon, now dressed in a short pale green dress, standing at the front doors of the hospital. Feferi took a look over to Mr. Vantas, who had stood up to see her clearly.

  Feferi watched shortly from the desk, looking between the two carefully. Ms. Leijon took a cautious step forward, her hands clasped slightly in front of her.

  " . . . . Karkat?"

  Her voice was small, almost a whisper in the giant room, and Feferi had to strain to hear it. Not like she was listening in, or anything! What kind of weirdo would do that?!

  Mr. Vantas took a step forward, looking breathless.

  "Hey, Nep."

  A slight, short scream emitted from Ms. Leijon, before she ran forward, grinning stupidly, to Mr. Vantas. He, on the other hand, stepped forward slightly, just enough to catch her by the waist and pull her upwards, smiling as Ms. Leijon spun around in his arms, laughing.

  "I missed you so much--You don't know how long it took to find you, oh my gosh--!"

  "Do you know how fucking hard it was to so much as figure out where you lived--"

  "--I mentioned it like once--"

  "--I can't believe you're here, with that stupid ass sunhat--"

  "--Oh my god, you're actually real!"

  Ms. Leijon pulled Mr. Vantas in for a hug, and Feferi made a little awe-ing noise, smiling at the two. Mr. Vantas picked Ms. Leijon up off the ground a second time just to hug her, her legs hanging off the ground by at least a foot. Feferi heard a slight shift from behind her.

  "--I didn't think you were so close to me, where are you staying, you can--"

  "--I live halfway across the country, Nepeta, holy shit --"

  "-- Oh my gosh, there's so much I have to tell you, I can't believe --"

  "-- You can tell me later, we can talk --"

  "You're just -- You're here!"

  Ms. Leijon couldn't stop smiling at Mr. Vantas, who seemed to be in the same dillema. She had grabbed his hands to hold and were pulling on them slightly, grinning.

  "We can do, like, literally anything here, I know the perfect places --"

  " -- What the fuck are we waiting for then, jesus --"

  "-- It's just, I can't believe I found you!"

  "I know, Christ, do you know how many Nepeta Leijons are in this country? Way too fucking many--"

  "It doesn't matter, let's go!"

  Ms. Leijon started pulling Mr. Vantas out, laughing and grinning. He complied, smiling at her as she started to list off places to go and people to meet. Feferi sighed slightly, smiling to herself. In all her years, she had never seen something so utterly and pathetically sweet.

  Feferi shoveled paperwork down beside her, still smiling to herself, as a voice crept up behind her.'

  "I suppose you might have had something to do with that, Ms. Peixes?"

  Feferi's grin widened as she turned to Dr. Zahhak, captivated.

  "I'd like to think so, so yes!"

  "Think so?"

  "Well, technically, it's all because of me--"

  "Ms. Peixes, I don't think I've ever known you to be so self-interested--"

  "Oh, shush!"

**Author's Note:**

> i know nothing about hospitals  
> how do they work?????? well, who knows, certainly not i, because hospitals are SCARY and i am not a FAN


End file.
